Repair Festival held in Estonia's Viljandi

The Estonian town of Viljandi once again hosted its Repair Festival, which over five years has become the country's most significant event promoting the repair and reuse of items.

This year visitors were offered 30 workshops on repair topics. Participants were taught how to mend national costumes, carry out home repairs, and restore books, while also learning how to avoid generating waste, how to care for a scythe, and how to sharpen knives, according to Estonian broadcaster ERR's "Aktuaalne Kaamera" news program.

A flea market with both sales and giveaways

A flea market also operated during the festival. Rego Purin, a vendor who came from Tallinn, said he sells all kinds of items there — tools, clothing, furniture and car parts. He noted that items are not only sold but also given away for free, as vendors try to be useful to people and spread the idea of environmentally friendly thinking.

Goal: changing attitudes

Festival organizers believe such an event helps shift people's attitudes toward repairing and reusing things. Ave Matsin, head of the Heritage Technology program at the Viljandi Culture Academy, said the ideal outcome would be twofold: manufacturers producing items that can actually be repaired, and consumers changing their mindset so that whenever something breaks, their first thought is whether it can be fixed rather than whether to buy something new.